HongDou
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- Joined
- Nov 23, 2012
- Messages
- 5,191
- MBTI Type
- ENFP
- Enneagram
- 6w7
- Instinctual Variant
- so/sx
Hi all 
For the past few months, I've been working with some clients using the Enneagram test to see if their results help provide a framework through which we can continue exploring their experiences. Of course, I know Enneagram isn't the most empirically supported study compared to another personality assessment like the Big Five, so I do preface to my clients that all of this can be taken with a grain of salt. However, basically all of my clients that I've offered the test to have found their results helpful in building more insight in some way. I think having a background in the Enneagram (which this site helped me build for years) also helped better equip me to unpack and co-analyze the results that my clients were bringing to me, so deeper discussion once the results are yielded I'm finding is kind of essential when it comes to the Enneagram. All in all, I've found it pretty helpful as a practicing therapist. It's a good reminder that we don't always have to rely on empirically supported techniques if we have a good understanding of our own theory, as long as there is a good amount of flexibility and humility incorporated into it.
I've administered the test to 9 clients so far, and so here are some general themes and experiences we've identified in our work together (in the most concise and confidentiality-compliant way possible):
Enneagram 3
This client I silently predicted to myself would end up testing this way before I even offered them the test. Their experiences were reading as so prolifically type 3 that they were the catalyst for me to even consider using Enneagram as a tool to work with clients. A lot of the content we discuss is centered around their work and career. There are hang-ups around prestige, awards, and external validation of success in general. We've identified it can be difficult for them to feel successful in their own right, and so some of the work we've identified moving forward is figuring out how to connect with what makes them feel confident and secure to rebuild their self-image in a more internally validated manner.
Enneagram 5
For some reason, I never expect a client to test as this type - I think identifying with the core of the head triad (type 6) can make it easy for me to misidentify head triad concerns as type 6 concerns specifically. This client seemed to greatly resonate with type 5, but I got the sense that they feel less attached to it than my type 3 client, so exploration of other types is definitely possible as well if we ever circle back to Enneagram. There was a lot of anxiety around health, sickness, and death. This seems to be influenced from a lot of expectations they experienced in multiple areas of their life in which they were supposed to be the champion of their own life and be the sole person to hold responsibility over their wellbeing. There is definitely a fixation on needing to feel equipped and capable because of this - a need to maintain a sense of control. This might also connect to their own self-identified quick temper/short fuse.
Enneagram 7
This one I also was not surprised by. Our sessions can feel very scattered at times, as they can ramble and jump from one idea to the next in a way that can be hard to keep up with. There is a lot of exploration here, with work and career but also with hobbies and relationships. There are always new prospects they are considering, so I've had to challenge myself to be more directive so we can continue exploring a more linear train of thought. We've identified that this pattern is reflective of a lack of inner guidance - not knowing what will help resolve their feelings of anxiety/uncertainty and yet feeling desperation for a "solution". Would appreciate some advice from other 7s here on what helped them through their own personal growth processes. It feels a bit difficult to verbalize what needs to be reckoned with here - maybe it's because of my own connection to type 7. So far we've settled on the fundamental 7 path - reckoning with pain that comes with fully committing to something (rejection, anxiety, stress, worry, limitation, wasted time, etc) and accepting this as a part of the qualitative experience of pursuing what you believe in. But I feel I could do better in helping provide direction on what the shadow work is here.
Enneagram 8
Childhood comes up more frequently here than with the previous types - gaslighting, invalidation, neglect, and lack of care are elements that come out within it. It is refreshing to work with someone with such strong self-assertion skills, but we do acknowledge that it is unfortunately the result of such experiences growing up. A lot of our initial work together was characterized by emotional identification in general, as that skill seemed to be underdeveloped due to the aforementioned circumstances. Self-awareness of emotional experience has been a big gateway towards getting into more thorough work together. In doing so, we can more easily identify how to navigate conflict and anger with more flexibility and communication, without erasing the need for self-advocacy. There is a discrepancy between their approach to work and their approach to emotional intimacy, which could be interpreted as a difficulty connecting to integration at type 2.
Enneagram 9
If you noticed I only had a single client to talk about for each type so far, it's because the rest of them tested as type 9. This could be reflective of so many different statistical phenomena we could spend time speculating on, but I'm just taking it as it is for now. They greatly contrast my experience with type 8, where self-advocacy is the underdeveloped skill in this case. There are a lot of self-imposed ideals that come up in session, such as the need to be the family protector or a more general value of having integrity in being harmonious. Sometimes it can feel these clients can get stuck with stasis and feeling sedentary, because motion will involve potentially generating conflict or pushback. A lot of our work I try to frame as learning how to "take up space", whether in a room or in a relationship. This definitely involves addressing self-image to a degree as well, so they can ultimately perceive their needs as equally valid as those of others - as I say this, maybe this could represent the value of 9's integration to type 3?
Would love to hear your thoughts about these experiences
Would also be interested in hearing your own experience with how you feel your Enneagram type shows up in therapy/self-development! Take care y'all.
For the past few months, I've been working with some clients using the Enneagram test to see if their results help provide a framework through which we can continue exploring their experiences. Of course, I know Enneagram isn't the most empirically supported study compared to another personality assessment like the Big Five, so I do preface to my clients that all of this can be taken with a grain of salt. However, basically all of my clients that I've offered the test to have found their results helpful in building more insight in some way. I think having a background in the Enneagram (which this site helped me build for years) also helped better equip me to unpack and co-analyze the results that my clients were bringing to me, so deeper discussion once the results are yielded I'm finding is kind of essential when it comes to the Enneagram. All in all, I've found it pretty helpful as a practicing therapist. It's a good reminder that we don't always have to rely on empirically supported techniques if we have a good understanding of our own theory, as long as there is a good amount of flexibility and humility incorporated into it.
I've administered the test to 9 clients so far, and so here are some general themes and experiences we've identified in our work together (in the most concise and confidentiality-compliant way possible):
Enneagram 3
This client I silently predicted to myself would end up testing this way before I even offered them the test. Their experiences were reading as so prolifically type 3 that they were the catalyst for me to even consider using Enneagram as a tool to work with clients. A lot of the content we discuss is centered around their work and career. There are hang-ups around prestige, awards, and external validation of success in general. We've identified it can be difficult for them to feel successful in their own right, and so some of the work we've identified moving forward is figuring out how to connect with what makes them feel confident and secure to rebuild their self-image in a more internally validated manner.
Enneagram 5
For some reason, I never expect a client to test as this type - I think identifying with the core of the head triad (type 6) can make it easy for me to misidentify head triad concerns as type 6 concerns specifically. This client seemed to greatly resonate with type 5, but I got the sense that they feel less attached to it than my type 3 client, so exploration of other types is definitely possible as well if we ever circle back to Enneagram. There was a lot of anxiety around health, sickness, and death. This seems to be influenced from a lot of expectations they experienced in multiple areas of their life in which they were supposed to be the champion of their own life and be the sole person to hold responsibility over their wellbeing. There is definitely a fixation on needing to feel equipped and capable because of this - a need to maintain a sense of control. This might also connect to their own self-identified quick temper/short fuse.
Enneagram 7
This one I also was not surprised by. Our sessions can feel very scattered at times, as they can ramble and jump from one idea to the next in a way that can be hard to keep up with. There is a lot of exploration here, with work and career but also with hobbies and relationships. There are always new prospects they are considering, so I've had to challenge myself to be more directive so we can continue exploring a more linear train of thought. We've identified that this pattern is reflective of a lack of inner guidance - not knowing what will help resolve their feelings of anxiety/uncertainty and yet feeling desperation for a "solution". Would appreciate some advice from other 7s here on what helped them through their own personal growth processes. It feels a bit difficult to verbalize what needs to be reckoned with here - maybe it's because of my own connection to type 7. So far we've settled on the fundamental 7 path - reckoning with pain that comes with fully committing to something (rejection, anxiety, stress, worry, limitation, wasted time, etc) and accepting this as a part of the qualitative experience of pursuing what you believe in. But I feel I could do better in helping provide direction on what the shadow work is here.
Enneagram 8
Childhood comes up more frequently here than with the previous types - gaslighting, invalidation, neglect, and lack of care are elements that come out within it. It is refreshing to work with someone with such strong self-assertion skills, but we do acknowledge that it is unfortunately the result of such experiences growing up. A lot of our initial work together was characterized by emotional identification in general, as that skill seemed to be underdeveloped due to the aforementioned circumstances. Self-awareness of emotional experience has been a big gateway towards getting into more thorough work together. In doing so, we can more easily identify how to navigate conflict and anger with more flexibility and communication, without erasing the need for self-advocacy. There is a discrepancy between their approach to work and their approach to emotional intimacy, which could be interpreted as a difficulty connecting to integration at type 2.
Enneagram 9
If you noticed I only had a single client to talk about for each type so far, it's because the rest of them tested as type 9. This could be reflective of so many different statistical phenomena we could spend time speculating on, but I'm just taking it as it is for now. They greatly contrast my experience with type 8, where self-advocacy is the underdeveloped skill in this case. There are a lot of self-imposed ideals that come up in session, such as the need to be the family protector or a more general value of having integrity in being harmonious. Sometimes it can feel these clients can get stuck with stasis and feeling sedentary, because motion will involve potentially generating conflict or pushback. A lot of our work I try to frame as learning how to "take up space", whether in a room or in a relationship. This definitely involves addressing self-image to a degree as well, so they can ultimately perceive their needs as equally valid as those of others - as I say this, maybe this could represent the value of 9's integration to type 3?
Would love to hear your thoughts about these experiences
Would also be interested in hearing your own experience with how you feel your Enneagram type shows up in therapy/self-development! Take care y'all.
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